The Devils in the detail. Karl Tiefenbacher 4 Wellington

When I first read about the draft Long Term Plan and seemingly the council accepting the fact that

we need to focus more on the water issues we are having, I felt excited. Finally we will see some

sensible financial decisions being made and Wellington getting back on track to becoming the great

little capital we have always been so proud to call home. Or so I thought.

Unfortunately on closer examination the recommended savings offer little in cost savings and likely

will face so much public backlash that many will not make the cut.

They want to cut services while increasing rates. They want to sell assets to fund operational

expenditure. They want to decrease safety by stopping live monitoring of CCTV. They want to reduce

graffiti removal allowing the city to become even more shabby than it has become already. The fun

police even want to cancel New Years Eve, or at least the waterfront public event which is attended

by a huge number of Wellingtonians of all ages. They want to cancel public firework displays

potentially leading to more DIY displays.

As they say the devil is in the detail and of even greater concern is what is not being considered for

potential cost saving. The outrageously expensive projects that are really threatening to bankrupt

our city and that are opposed by so many Wellingtonians have not been put forward for

consideration. Leaving these off the table is compromising the Councilor’s ability to fulfil their

obligations and points to personnel agendas being pushed by those writing these reports.

The new organic composting scheme that to many people might sound reasonable will cost $22m to

implement and require a unpalatable 2% increase to the rates bill. But it gets worse! We do not have

a composting facility in Wellington so we will be trucking it to Levin negating the Carbon emission

benefits. Why has it not been suggested that potentially this be postponed and revisited in a few

years.

The Golden mile project which is opposed by the vast majority of businesses and residents could be

permanently cancelled. Not only would this give retailers certainty and allow them to move forward

in a positive manner, but it would also save the city $70m- money that could be put in to the pipes-

with a small proportion used to beautify and clean the Golden mile that has been totally neglected

by WCC over many years now. The added advantage of not removing carparks (which is predicted to

see a $17m reduction in parking revenue) would also remove the need to increase parking fees as

proposed.

The Thorndon Quay road changes that are strongly opposed by the Thorndon Residents Association

and the businesses along this stretch could be cancelled. Potential savings of millions of dollars and

again no loss of parking revenue.

The recently commenced Karori and the extension of the Island Bay cycleways are causing havoc and

should never have been started in the current environment. The Newtown-Berhampore one which is

about to start could be postponed and revisited in future years…again freeing up money for the

pipes.

As long as we have personnel agendas being put ahead of core business and basic infrastructure we

are destined to go backwards as a city.

Councillors need to issue a “please explain” notice to the authors of this document and defer a

decision on it until it represents meaningful and sensible suggestions.